


live each life with pride and dignity.

by canonlytrans



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Originally Posted Elsewhere, this is super old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 05:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19716802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canonlytrans/pseuds/canonlytrans
Summary: “I hail you by your new name, Hollystar,” Firestar announced. “Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants to you the guardianship of ThunderClan."





	live each life with pride and dignity.

**Author's Note:**

> so this was part of a big AU i started writing up, where Hollyleaf WAS the third in the Power of Three prophecy, and ended up becoming the leader. their names were different and stuff 'cause I was gonna re-write the ENTIRE series. but, I found this when going through some old shit and felt the need to post it.

“With this life I give you love,” Ferncloud said softly. “Use it well when your clan is in need."

She could feel the delicate power flowing through her body. She knew then that she would fight to the death for every single cat in her clan, from the youngest kit to the oldest elder. Was this how Ferncloud had felt when she’d died defending the kits?

Briarlight stepped forward, her eyes lit up with the painlessness StarClan offered her. She touched her muzzle to Hollymist’s head. “With this life I give you bravery. Use it well in the defense and protection of every clanmate.”

If Hollymist had expected the soft energy Ferncloud gave her, she was wrong. Every hair in her pelt stood straight up and she was sure she could hear the roaring of cats in battle. She could feel the ground under her body shake, and she felt the pain of scars and battle wounds, earned through battles that had not yet come.

Trembling, Hollymist stared at the next cat. She had a soft tortoiseshell pelt and when she spoke, her voice was delicate and milky. She realized it must be Spottedleaf, the medicine cat from long ago. “With this life I give you compassion. Use it well when you have lost so much.”

Though she expected the pain, Hollymist could hardly fight the urge to lie down.

Spottedleaf stepped back and a cat stepped forward. Hollymist’s heart leapt. Her father, Brambleclaw, looked as brave and strong as ever. “With this life I give you the ability to forgive,” he meowed, and Hollymist realized he was speaking for Ashfur’s sake. “Use it well at all times.”

The pain was less, and she drank it in deeply. It tasted of the forest, and of the lake, and of times spent in the sunlight. She closed her eyes and let it envelop her. “Brambleclaw, we miss you.”

“You will be a leader that the clans will remember for an eternity,” he murmured. “I’m proud to be your father.”

He stepped back and a dark she-cat with a flattened face appeared where he had left. Yellowfang, who Hollymist had fought alongside during the battle. “With this life I give you loyalty. Use it to stay true to your heart and your clan.”

Hollymist had heard the stories of Yellowfang, and as a sharp pain jolted through her, she understood how she had loved her birth clan but been loyal to ThunderClan, who had taken her in when she needed it most. She closed her eyes once more and she felt the fifth life go through her like a bolt of lightning.

Bluestar stepped forward, her blue-gray fur glistening with starlight. She dipped her head to Hollymist. “With this life I give you ambition. Use it to help your clan become strong again.”

She expected the pain, but it was even stronger than before. Energy blazed through her body. She felt as though she could run to the island and back again. Her paws itched for home. Three more lives to go.

Hollymist looked up and saw a cat she hadn’t seen in a long time. A beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat padded over. Poppyfrost, her friend. “Oh,” she managed. “Poppyfrost, Honeyfern misses you so much.”

“I know.” She put her nose to Hollymist’s forehead. “With this life I give you hope. Use it when hard times come to reassure your clanmates.”

She stepped back and Hollymist felt a jolt go through her body. Fallen Leaves, who had guided her through her apprenticeship and onward, who had put her on the path to becoming leader, took a step over to her. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. When she reopened them, she could see the longing and pain in his eyes. “With this life I give you remembrance. Use it to remember those before you and those weaker than you.”

It felt like frost, rushing through her veins and making her fur stand on end. She stared up at Fallen Leaves. It wasn’t painful, or perhaps it was that she had expected the pain to come. “I miss you,” she said, trembling from head to tail.

“I miss you.”

He stepped back and a fiery tom stepped into his place. His green eyes blazed with warm and security and long-ago times. Hollymist stared up at him. She had never been his deputy, for he had died in the beginning of the battle against the Dark Forest, but she had trusted him as leader.

Firestar.

“With this life I give you confidence. Use it to lead your clan. You will make mistakes, but be confident that you will always lead your clan through the darkest times. You will never be alone, Hollymist.”

As he spoke, agony pushed through her body. She shared Firestar’s strength in battle, the anguish in making the choice to choose Brambleclaw over Graystripe, the pain of every life stolen from him. She felt his terror in watching Scourge kill Tigerstar, and the rush of energy he felt when he received his own lives. She could feel his love for Spottedleaf and then for Sandstorm, and the anger he felt against Tigerstar, which had become pity. She felt the weight of his choice to allow kittypets and loners into the clan.

She knew that if she wanted to, she could win any battle, fight any cat. With her brothers by her side, she would never be alone. She opened her eyes and stared at all of the cats before her, each as important as the next.

“I hail you by your new name, Hollystar,” Firestar announced. “Your old life is no more. You have now received the nine lives of a leader, and StarClan grants to you the guardianship of ThunderClan. Defend it well; care for young and old; honor your ancestors and the traditions of the warrior code; live each life with pride and dignity.”

“Hollystar! Hollystar!”


End file.
